Thin Line Between Love and Hate
by browneyedgirl330
Summary: After months of fighting between Jordan and Woody someone from her past surfaces and she disappears. Will Woody over come his anger and find her in time....Chapter 24 is up!
1. Gave him her best shot

**_I don't own any of the characters from Crossing Jordan, this is just for fun!_**

**_This is my first fanfic so I hope everyone likes it._**

Nigel, Bug and Lily stood around the corner from Jordan's office, strategically located where they could hear the argument she and Woody were having. This was not the first argument either; it was closer to number 100. It always started the same he shows up demanding evidence from her about a case, she gets fed up and tries to walk away, but Woody would follow her to her office, the door and the blinds would shut and the screaming match commenced. They had fought this way ever since Riggs shot Woody, that was more than seven months ago. "Why do they have to keep hurting each other?'' asked Lily, "I mean listen to them, what they are saying". "I know" said Nigel, "I've never heard Jordan use that many four letter words at once, plus I think she is making up new ones.

"What the hell is going on?" the group heard from behind them. It was Garret. "Are those two at it again? That's it! I've had enough! I'm putting a stop to this once and for all". Garret rushed by them and barged into Jordan's office. The three continued to stand there for the impending fireworks.

"Detective!" Yelled Garret at Woody, "That's enough, get out of my morgue before I have you escorted out! Jordan and Woody looked like two school boys who were fighting and had just been broken up by their teacher. Woody dropped his head and walked by Garret and headed toward the elevator. Jordan looked down at her desk and saw Woody's cup of coffee sitting on her desk, and she had the evilest thought……..

She picked up the styrofoam cup and made it past Garret before she yelled "Hey Woody, you forgot your coffee!"

Woody turned around thinking, "what the…" just then he was coved in luke warm coffee. He was speechless, so was everyone else for that matter. Everyone just stood and watched Woody to see what his reaction would be, but no one expected was would happen next.

"Jordan Cavanaugh, you're under arrest for assault on a police officer!" Woody exclaimed as he walked toward her reaching for his hand cuffs. "You have got to be kidding, your captain will laugh you out of the prescient if you come with Jordan in handcuffs" Nigel said laughing nearly hysterically holding his stomach.

Before Woody could reach Jordan with the cuffs Garrett stepped between them, "Woody, you need to leave!" "Did you not see what she just did? She could have scalded me if that had been hot! I'm not going to take her crap anymore…never again!" Woody screamed. Garrett grabbed Woody's arm and began to escort him out, as Woody stepped into elevator Garrett turned to him and said "By the way if you get any bright ideas about filing charges against Jordan, all anybody on this floor saw was you spill you coffee!"

Woody shrugged off his jacket and started to unbutton his shirt as he walked to his car in the parking. "Damn that woman" he thought. "Who does she thinks she is, embarrass me, curse me like a dog, what's next a swift kick to the crotch" He grumbled as he stepped into his car. "I guess I better go get some fresh clothes from the apartment". As he was leaving he drove past Jordan's El Camino in the lot, he simply thought to himself "Man am I glad that coffee was cold".


	2. Off to the principal's office

_**Wow its only been up for a day and 5 shinning review! Thanks to all.**_

_**Again..None of these characters belong to me, just borrowing them for fun!**_

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Meanwhile back in the morgue, Jordan stands feeling somewhat victorious in front of her office. Her friends surround her giving her words of encouragement. "The Sox will be calling you next season, did you see that pitch…Wow" Lily said to Jordan in an attempt to make her smile. But there was no smile to be found, she could see Garrett coming down the hall at her and he looked mad as hell. "Get a mop and clean this mess up Jordan, my office in ten minutes!"Garret said angrily as he walked by her. "Oh" Jordan thought to herself "I'm in trouble now, he's probably going to fire me"

When she came back the hall to clean up the mess she made it was empty. "Typical" she thought, "everyone wants to see the fight but no one wants to help clean up the mess". Jordan mopped the floor until there was no trace of the coffee she had flung at Woody, the man that used to be her best friend, the man she used to love. Her anger swelled inside of her as she thought of their history, of how he treated her after he was shot, and especially of what he had said today, that he never really loved her. Tears nearly began to come to her eyes as she thought "never really loved me huh, funny could have fooled me, was Woody just trying to hurt me or was he telling the truth."

She was wiping the tears off of her face when she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, it was Garrett. "Jordan we need to talk, leave the mop and come with me". She followed him to his office and they both sat down. Before he could even ask what had happened she started to sob. "Garrett, he said that he never really loved me that he just used me to get information on his cases. Why would he say that…Why is he trying to hurt me on purpose?" Garrett was finding it difficult to understand her , but thru the sobs he got the point of what she was trying to say. "Jordan honey you know he didn't mean it, you two have been practically inseparable for the past few years until….well you know. A man doesn't risk his life over and over again for someone if he doesn't care about, I've seen the terror on his face when you went missing….well _all_ the times you have went missing". they both laughed to themselves a little, and he continued, "in my opinion you both are trying to use anger to get over each other, and today…well it just got out of hand, eventually you two will have to sort things out, I don't want some poor innocent soul caught in the cross fire if you decide to throw things at him again. You know Jordan you could have really hurt him if that coffee would have been hot".

Jordan smiled a wicked smile and said " I checked it before I threw it……" "You what?" Garrett said laughing. "I didn't want to hurt him just…I don't know embarrass him a little, give him a good shot to the ego, all I know is that it felt great! I guess it was a release of sorts. I just wish that I would have had a camera, the look on his face was priceless!" They were both laughing by this time. Garrett always knew how to make her feel better. They both stood up and started for the door. Garrett hugged her and said " only you Jordan, only you would check the temperature of coffee before you threw at someone. Take the rest of the afternoon and finish up your paperwork and if anything easy comes in I'llsend it your way, I think you have had enough drama for the day." He watched her as she went down the hall to her office, she turned and gave him her best little girl grin and went to her office and shut the door.


	3. Home Lonesome Home

**_Thanks for all the great reviews! Sorry it took a little while to get this chapter up, chapter 4 should be up in the next day or so. Enjoy!_**

**_Again, I don't own any of these characters and the story is written just for fun!_**

The rest of the day went pretty quickly, just a mountain of paper work and a few pick up calls, nothing too eventful, unlike this morning. "I think it's time to head out of here" she said to her self as she began to gather her things to go home. As she was walking towards the elevator a voice from behind her called "Jordan", it was Nigel. "Are finally heading home, love? I figured you would have been out of here after everything that happened… "Jordan just squeezed out a smile and said "Ahhh no, just kept my self buried under paperwork the rest of the day, it easier to deal with things that way". Nigel puts his arm around her and walks her to the elevator and presses the button for her. "You know, love, these things have a way of working themselves out, just give it time, it will get easier, I promise!" Jordan stood there for a minute and thought about what Nigel had said; she then reached around her friend giving him a hug. "Thanks, Nig!" she said and she stepped in to the elevator. As the doors were closing she heard Nigel yell back at her "see you tomorrow slugger!" Jordan shook her head and thought, there's a nickname I might have to explain sometime.

After driving around for sometime to help sort out her thoughts, she finally was home, "home alone" she said to herself. Jordan set down her purse and jacket and headed straight for the shower. A million gallons of water later Jordan throws on her pj's and robe then grabs a beer out of the frig and flops down on the couch to watch some TV. "Of course the night I get to come home a decent hour there is nothing on" she yells as she throws the remote. She grabs the blanket on the back of the couch and settles down to see if she can get a few hours of sleep. "Sleep" she thought as she began to realize how long it had been since she really had a good nights sleep. It had been years, she was plagued with nightmares, her mother being murdered, being buried alive and as of late Woody. She laid there for a while and finally drifted off, praying for a night of rest.

Crash…Jordan wakes up and sit straight up off the couch. "Who's there" she yells…"Hello, is someone in here?" She got up and very hesitantly walks towards her bedroom. As she creeps towards her room, she spots her cell phone, "should I call the cops" and flips it open…and then immediately closes it. "I'm probably on the don't answer her call list at the station now after what happened today" She then puts the phone in her pocket and heads towards her room. "I don't remember leaving the window………………." she says aloud just before a hand covers her face. She attempted to struggle but it was to no avail, the cloth in the attackers hand was laced with chloroform. Jordan was nearly out when he placed her in the floor, she was trying to see who had done this to her, it was dark, only the light from the TV lite the room. She kept fighting, fighting to stay awake to see who had her…..finally she saw his face…it was….it was….James……….


	4. Where There's Smoke

Woody sat in his apartment staring at the TV, tipping up the last bottle of beer from his six pack. He sat there thinking about the events of the day, of his fight with _her. _"I give up" he thought to him self " just go to bed and forget this day ever happened. As he was heading to his bedroom he turned on the police scanner as he did every night, just for noise, he could stand being left alone in the dark with his thoughts. Staggering thru the dark Woody found his bed and crawled in, covering his head with the blanket he began to listen to the goings on of the Boston PD. "...we have a 410 in progress, additional units are requested at the scene..." the radio called out. "Hmmm that sounds interesting" was the last thing he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

It wasn't long into the night that Woody started to dream, dream of the chestnut haired vixen that haunted his dreams nearly every night. He began to toss and turn violently. he could see her face...he knew she was in danger...but he couldn't reach her..."Jordan" he called out over and over again till finally he woke up screaming her name. He was covered in sweat, "Damn her" was all he could say as he laid his head back on the pillow and just them something caught his attention on the radio. "...there is a structure fire at 311 Pearle Street, additional units are requested..." "Oh God, where's Jordan" he said jumping up out of bed and running to find his phone. Woody frantically dialed Jordan number."...ring...ring...ring...Hi this is Jordan, Plea.." He slammed his phone shut. Just as he did it began to ring.

"Jordan, is that you..." he spoke.

"No Woody it's me, Garret. You need to get down here, there's fire in her building ,we can't find Jordan anywhere. No one has heard from her since she left the office and..."

Woody interrupted him in mid sentence, "I'll be right there"

He shut his phone and flew thru his apartment getting dressed and gathering his things. He began to say a little prayer in his head, over and over again, "Please God let her be ok, Please, please..." He made it Pearle Street in a flash, but was stopped by traffic caused by the fire. Woody threw his car in park and started running to the scene, to see if he could find her. Finally he found some one, he found Garret and Nigel across the street from the blaze.

"Have you heard from her, have they found her yet, did she make it out ok?" he questioned the two men

They both grimly answered "No, nothing yet, nothing since she left the office"

"Did anyone make it out?" he asked as he turned for the first time to see the fire. "Oh no" was all he could say. The fire was huge, like nothing he had ever seen before.

Garret finally answered him "Apparently there was a gas leak and then an explosion, no one really had time to get out, they were probably asleep in there beds when the explosion occurred, they...never had a chance." Tears started to form in all the men's eyes at that point, fear and grief had finally taken them. Woody dropped to his knees and began to sob almost uncontrollably when Nigel reached for him. "Maybe she's ok somewhere, maybe" he was trying to comfort him, but to no avail. At that moment there was a tremendous crash, the building had started to collapse. All of the firemen where immediately pulled from the building and it was left to burn out.


	5. There's Ashes

Woody alone sat on the curb across from what was left of Jordan apartment building as dawn broke. The fire was still smoldering but the fire department had sent in crews to search for survivors and…bodies. His 'ME' family had to leave him an hour or so earlier to help with the bodies that were beginning to accumulate.

He finally decided to get up and check with Garret to see if….they had found her. He searched to crowd for a minute to find him standing with Nigel over a charcoaled body, "Any news?" he asked. "Nothing to speak of Woodrow, looking at the condition of these bodies, we will have to use DNA to identify them…..when I know something, you'll know it" Nigel said as he put his hand on Woody's shoulder. "Thanks" is all he could mutter before walking away.

Woody went beck to reclaim his spot on the curb where he had sat for nearly 6 hours…waiting… waiting to see if she was among the dead. He sat with his head in his hands and began to let his mind wonder "_what am I supposed to do know, I don't know how to live with out her, I never even got to tell her how sorry I was", _tears start streaming down his face_," I never got to tell her how much I truly loved her."_

After several hours the search was called off, 11 bodies were recovered from the building. It was going to take time to extract the DNA from the charred remains, time that seemed to drag on forever. The morgue was eerily quiet as Garret, Nigel, and Bug all worked on processing the DNA. After a few hours Bug looked up at his friends, "Guys, I've got nothing, none of the DNA matches hers, I've found a few of them in the database, but 6 are still unidentified". They all looked at each other with a slight sigh of relief but the question still remains where is Jordan?


	6. Trunk Full of Trouble

Jordan awoke to find herself in the trunk of a car. She felt as if she were in a fog, symptoms left over from the chloroform no doubt. Her hand and feet were bound with tape along with tape across her mouth. When she became aware of her situation she nearly began to hyperventilate. "_Calm down Jordan, Calm down_" she kept repeating to her self. She finally had convinced herself that it was going to be ok, that she would get out of this…..somehow. "_Alright I need to figure out where I am, is that the radio I can hear…..yes it is, ok I'll listen to see if they announce the station so I'll know where we are". _She listed for a long while and finally she strained to listen for the call letters…….."this is 93.1 WHYN Springfield's only Rock"….. "_Ok I'm not too far from home, if I can get away I'll need to tell someone where I am_" she thought to herself.

It wasn't too long before the car came to stop. She laid in the trunk and waited for him to get her. "_Is that what I think it is…is that a cop…he's been pulled over for speeding or something_", with that she began to make all the noise she could, she beat on the floor of the trunk with her feet and tried to scream a muffled scream. She jerked as three gun shots rang out just outside of the car. "Oh no, what has he done" she gasped. Jordan was flung against the rear of the trunk as James floored it and speed off.

He had indeed been speeding when the Springfield police pulled him over. He panicked when Jordan began to make noise and the officer told him to step out of the car, he shot him three times in the chest. James knew he had to get off the interstate and get her back to the farm that his adoptive parents once owned so he could stash the car. He sped as fast as his old Buick would go till finally he was off the interstate and on the one lane road leading to the farm. When they arrived at the farm he pulled the car in the barn and closed the doors and waited a short while to see if he was followed, but apparently the coast was clear. He walked over to the car and opened the trunk so see a wild eyed Jordan and greeted her "SIS, we're home……"


	7. Visions from the Past

_**Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! Keep them coming!**_

_**I have to warn you, things are getting ready to get a little strange, so I hope you like it**_

_**Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me, this is just for fun!**_

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Woody stood in his office in disbelief after he hung up the phone with Garret. "_If she's not_ _among the dead then where is she_?" he asked himself. He ran his fingers thru his hair nervously and pondered what to do next. "Before I turn this over to missing persons I better do one last check of the building….just to make sure". With that thought he practically ran for the door, heading to his car.

Once back on the scene, Woody wondered around the remains of her building. He asked all the firemen left if there was a chance anyone was left in the remains, there were different answers from each. They all told him the building had been combed from one end to the other and nothing was found, unless the fire had completely destroyed the body. All he could do is sigh at the last response, Woody sat down on the curb that he had become intimately familiar with the night before. In a last ditch effort he picked up his phone and dialed her number, he hoped that maybe she had simply run away..away from him..away from Boston. Her phone just rang, she didn't pick up.

"What the hell…" he said as he slowly got up from the curb. He redialed her number, was that her phone he just heard ringing? He frantically began to search trying to find where it was coming from. It took him a few minutes and about 20 phone calls till he found her phone in an alley close to her building. "_How did this get here_" he thought as he began to stoop over to pick it up. As soon as he touched it his mind was flooded with images of her…Jordan was flung over a mans shoulder and thrown into a truck of a car, the man searched her before he shut the truck and tossed her phone to the ground…and in that instant Woody dropped her phone. He stood up and rubbed his hands over his face in astonishment, what had he just saw. Was that what really happened he began to question himself. His mind was still filled with questions when he called Dr. Macy.

"Macy" he heard on the other end. "Garret this is Woody, I think….I think Jordan has been kidnapped!"

"What? How do you know?" Garret exclaimed.

"I..I found her phone in the alley.. and I..I think I saw something…" He was stuttering over his words by this point. All he remembered Garret telling him was to call CSU and that he would be here in a few minutes.

Woody was shaking and white as a sheet when Garret and Nigel found him standing outside the alley. "Woodrow, you look like you've seen a ghost" Nigel said shaking him trying to bring him back to reality.

"huh…"he whispered so low that they could hardly make out.

"Woody, snap out of it!" Garret nearly screamed in his face.

"What…."he yelled back. Garret and Nigel both took a step back.

Woody dropped his head and apologized to both men and said as he started to walk off "I just feel like I'm loosing my mind…just…just check her phone for prints and see if there are any tire tracks to identify the vehicle she was taken in…".

"How do you know…", Woody quickly interrupted Nigel, "I don't know…I just don't know" and he disappeared down the street.


	8. Familiar Voices

_**Again thanks for all the comments, they are really encouraging. I think from some of the reviews of the last chapter I might have freaked everyone out a little with Woody. I would exactly call it a psycic moment, more like moment of clarity about the connection between the two of them! This chapter is short but it will leave you wanting more!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, this is just a lot of fun for me!**_

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_**Jordan felt the car stop and the heard the door shut. She wondered where she was now and why had her brother abducted her. Her mind was filled with questions when the trunk lid opened. "Sis, were home…" James spoke softly as he began to reach for her. 

Jordan immediately started to thrash around, suddenly James removed a knife from his belt and threatened her "we can do this easy way or the hard way…" he said as he lowered the knife to her throat.

James picked her up out of the truck and threw her over his shoulder. He opened the door to the barn and started toward the house. Jordan immediately started to look around, memorizing the surroundings, hoping there would come a time that she would be able to attempt an escape.

James continued walking thru the field toward the old farmhouse. When they arrived to the house James spoke to Jordan over his shoulder "Welcome to our new home, sis…welcome home". Terror ripped thru Jordan at that moment, "_What did he mean by that…Why here, why this_ _place..will I ever make out of here_…." she thought to her self as they entered the house and climbed the stairs.

He entered a small dark bedroom at the top of the stairs where he deposited Jordan in the floor. She was still bound and gagged so there wasn't much she could do at this point other than just stare up at him with bewildered eyes.

"Now sis you be good to your company and I'll be back in a few minutes" he told her as he shut the door.

"_Company_? Who else is here….." she thought.

"Jordan…." a meek voice from the dark corner called. She recognized it immediately.

"_Daddy!_….."


	9. The Truth Will Set You Free

_**Well this is a rather big chapter and there is a lot that goes on, so enjoy!**_

_**Thanks for all the reviews! Sorry it's took so long to get this chapter up, its took me forever to get it the way i want it.**_

_**Disclaimer: Again this is all for fun!**_

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"Jordan"….. a weak voice called from the corner.

"mmmmmnmnmnn" was all she could vocalize with the gag still on her face. She began to inch towards the voice. The task was very difficult seeing that she was still bound. Finally she made it to the corner where a figure was tied to a chair, it was indeed Max. He was much thinner than she remembered.

"Jordan…are you ok? Are you hurt?" He asked. Her eyes began to fill with tears as she furiously shook her head yes.

"Honey, scoot around behind me and I'll see if I can get the tape off of your mouth". She again nodded yes and made her way to his hands that were tied behind the chair.

"mmmmm….OOOOuch, that always hurts" she exclaimed. "Dad are you ok, how long have you been here, better yet why had he brought us here?"

Max began to speak weakly, "Sweetheart, slow down. I'm doing as well as expected with no food or water for.. I don't know.. two, three days, I'm still working on why we are here. All I do know is that your brother has really slipped off the deep end!"

"Well I kind of figured out the last part on my own, I thought that he was dead, he fell off that building in to the Charles that night, how can anyone survive that? Jordan said as she gnawed at the tape on her hands. "The big question.." she added, "how are we going to get out of here?"

Max wasn't sure how to tell her, he knew deep down that they would probably not get out of this situation alive, James had already threatened him with that, but how could he tell her. "Hun I just don't know…I'm too weak to try and escape, there's no chance that anyone will find out here."

"That's right! No one will find us out here!" James exclaimed as he came thru the door.

"Well, I see Miss resourceful got her gag out and almost got her hands free" James reached in his pocket and pulled out a crushed roll of duck tape and retaped Jordan's nearly freed hands, she fought him for minute but to no avail.

"Now that's better sis, now I don't think you can run off."

"Why are you doing this James, what did we do to you!" Jordan screamed in his face.

"Shut up!"James yelled as he reared his hand back and punched Jordan in the face knocking her to the floor.

"James leave her alone, this is between me and you why did you bring her here? She hasn't done anything to you!" Max exclaimed with tears beginning to fall from his eyes.

"Oh dear ol' dad, I wanted her to hear the truth…the truth from your lips about what happened to our mother before…..before I kill you like you did my mother!"

Jordan sat back up and spit the blood out of her mouth, she shook her head like she didn't really hear that, "James what are you talking about, Dad?"

"Yeah, come on dad what am I talking about?" James said sneering.

"James will you let her go if I tell her?" Max asked

"How about I don't kill her right now so you can tell her" James responded.

Max sighed and began to speak, "Do you remember when you were about 9, how sick you were? I was taking you to the doctor atleast every other week?" Jordan nodded and Max continued.

"Finally the doctor figured out what was going on, someone was poisoning you. I immediately suspected your mother but I couldn't prove anything. I searched the house but I found nothing, until one night…" Max's voice began to trail off.

"One afternoon I caught her putting something in cookies she was making for you, I asked her what it was and she said it was a vitamin, but I knew better and I confronted her about it and one thing lead to another and…..and…..I think you know what happended."

Tears were pouring down Jordan's cheeks at this point, she was in total disbelief, she couldn't speak. She just simply sat there and she began to rock back and forth a little in an attempt to comfort herself.

"You know you would have thought that you would have figured her out, you know since she tried to kill me too" James said nearly laughing. "Well now that truth is out in the open I'll leave you two for a while to say your goodbyes and I'll be back at dawn to finish this." With that James exited the room leaving a stunned Jordan and her father alone.

Jordan slowly began to speak, "why dad why did you lie to me, you've done nothing but lie to me my entire life."

"I always tried to protect you Jordan, I didn't want you to know that your own mother tried to kill you and your brother, much less that I ended up killing her to protect you. I made it look like someone had broken in, it just so happened that your brother was there the night before and left his fingerprints so it was easy to blame it on him, the story just made since so I just went with it. Sweetheart I am sorry that it had to come out this way, under these circumstances. At the very least I got to tell you the truth before….before your brother….kills us" Max spoke so softly that she could hardly hear him but she did, she heard every word and she was immediately covered up with emotions.

Jordan was so angry, she couldn't believe that her father had lied to her all these years, but a small part of her understood why…why he would have tried to protect her.

Jordan and Max didn't speak much the rest of the night. She tried to gather herself the best she could and think of a way for them to get out. Her thoughts turned to Woody, could he find her, was he even looking for her. She finally turned to the only one who she thought could help her, the man upstairs. Jordan began to pray like she had never before, she needed his help to forgive her father and for Woody to hear her heart, how she felt about him and finally that he could find her and Max in time. Her silent prayer was the last thing to cross her mind before exhaustion took her.


	10. Sweet Dreams

Woody went back to the precinct to try and gather his thoughts, but it wasn't going well. He just couldn't understand what had happened today. Why had he seen those images of her, where they true for that matter. He reached up and slapped himself in the face trying to make himself focus. He had to find her no matter what, he just had to find her. If someone had torched her apartment building just to cover their tracks, killing 11 people, the bastard must be a pure psycho!

He hadn't slept for almost three days so he decided to lay his head down on the desk for a few minutes to get a little shut eye. In 30 seconds he was out cold and it wasn't long before the same old dream began to haunt him.

"_Woody…Woody its me_" she called. He could see her face. He began to reach for her as he always does in this dream, but this time things were different, she reached back and caught his hand. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her and held her like there was no tomorrow. It wasn't long before she began to pull away, he began to beg her…."Please don't leave me, Please, I love you"..a smile washed over her face. She leaned into him and gave him a passionate kiss and turned to walk away, he reached for her this time and she wasn't there. All he could hear was her voice…."_find my brother, you find me….."_and then he heard gun shots

Woody shot up out of the chair and nearly tore the room down trying to figure out what was going on. An officer that was walking by at the time ran in to his office to see what was the matter. He found Woody leaned up against the wall in the corner of the room with his hand over his heart trying to catch his breath.

"Detective Hoyt, are you ok". All he could do is nod ok.

He asked him again " Are you sure your ok, you look like you've seen a ghost!"

"I'm fine, I must have dozed off and had a nightmare or something…..it scared me half to death".

The officer shook his head as if he understood and walked toward the door, he quickly turned and asked Woody, "Do you smell perfume in here? I can even smell it out in the hall, that's weird"

Woody just gave him a strange look as he walked out his office door, he recognized the scent immediately, it was her, it was Jordan. He stood there and relished the smell for a few minutes, wondering what in the world was going on, but he knew she had been there, not in the sense he was used to but she had been there. He smiled to himself and he headed straight to the morgue to tell them who he thought had Jordan….his Jordan.


	11. Fingerprints and Buicks

_**Thanks to everyone for all the great reviews. I guess you could say I'm ona roll here lately. Three chapters in less than a week! That's a lot for me.**_

_**Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me, even though I wish they did:)**_

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The team at the morgue was working feverously running prints and checking the tire tracks from the scene that Woody had called in that morning. They were all puzzled by Woody's statement "_I..I found her phone in the alley.. and I..I think I saw something……, I'm loosing my mind…just…just check her phone for prints and see if there are any tire tracks to identify the vehicle she was taken in…". _Puzzled or not they were going with it, that's all they had at this point.

"Garret, I think we have a print on her phone, but it's not in any of the databases" Nigel yelled across the lab.

At that moment Woody stormed in to the lab. "We have a print?" He exclaimed

"Yes dear Woodrow we do but we have no one to match it to" Nigel responded.

Woody stood and thought for a few seconds before he demanded, "give me the key to Jo's office!"

"Why?" Garret asked "Just give it to me, I think I might have something."

Garret shook his head and headed toward the end of the hall to Jordan's office. As he opened the door they were immediately overwhelmed with the smell of her perfume. Woody smiled to himself knowing he was on the right track. He rummaged thru her office till he found the box filled with the evidence of Jordan's mother's murder. Woody flipped thru everything till he found the lone fingerprint taken from the scene of the crime, her brothers' fingerprint.

Woody looked at Garret and spoke as he went for the door, "We need to check it against this one". He nearly ran down the hall to trace and handed the print to Nigel. It was an 18 point match!

Nigel looked up at a smiling Woody, "This matches but we don't know who it is" Nigel asked.

Woody quickly responded, " I do, it's her brother James". You could have heard a pin drop in the trace lab.

"How is this possible, I thought he was dead?" Nigel asked

"Apparently not! We have the who, so now we need to concentrate on where he has her, what do we know about the car, did you find tracks"

Garret and Nigel looked at each other with a shrug and Garret began, "We have it narrowed down to a mid-sized GM car from the tire tracks and the length of the axel, the tread pattern is the closest to what is used on 80's model Buicks"

Woody's eyes narrowed, "Buick…Buick" the thought for a moment, "Do you have yesterday's newspaper?"

Nigel pointed to his desk and Woody walked over, picked it up, and thumbed thru the pages till he found something he had seen earlier. "See this, officer shot during a routine traffic stop on Interstate 90 near Springfield, the guy was in a 83's Buick.

Nigel started typing furiously on his computer, he pulled up the incident report of the shot officer, the officer was alive and they had interviewed him at the hospital. He began to read "The assailant was in an 83 Buick Regal, he was over 6' tall dark hair, dark eyes. It was just a traffic stop due to speeding. The driver seemed nervous but everything was fine until the officer stepped away from the window towards the trunk, he said he heard a thumping noise…."

"That's them!" Woody exclaimed. "Ok she's near Springfield, where was James' adoptive family from?"

Garret immediately responded, "They were from Chicopee, which is near Springfield, Nigel check for their address and the addresses of any family that are still there.

Nigel's fingers flew and in a few minutes he turned the screen around with a list of address.

The men began sorting thru the list, "No, No, No, maybe, wait look at this one, an abandoned family farm 20 minutes from where he grew up, that's it, that's got to be it" Woody said before running for the door.

"Wait, wait just a minute, I'm coming, Nigel your in charge!" Garret yelled as he chased after Woody

It was 3 o'clock in the morning when they left; it would be nearly dawn when they made it to Springfield. Garret thought that this was a long shot, but Woody on the other hand was sure, he felt it with every ounce of his heart, he was sure he could find her in time.


	12. Shots at Dawn

_**This is sort of short but a lot happens! Enjoy!**_

_**Disclaimer: Just borrowing the characters for a little while, I've give them back I promise...**_

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It was still dark when Woody and Garrett made it to Springfield. Woody had pushed his unmarked police car to the limit the entire way. Few words were spoken the duration of the trip until they were about 30 minutes out.

"Woody, don't you think you should call for a little back up, you know just in case." Garret spoke gingerly knowing Woody would most likely not agree. Woody was silent for a minute, and then said coldly "that might not be a bad idea, we'll need witnesses if I had to kill him".

He then picked up his radio and requested a county sheriff for back up. It wasn't till they pulled on to the local road that a deputy sheriff's car pulled in behind them. The radio called out to Woody to tell him that they were with him as they made their way to the farm.

* * *

The sun slowly made it's way over the horizon as James paced back and forth of what used to be the living room of the old farmhouse. "I have to finish this, I have to put an end to this. I've let this go on too long….." he saw two cars coming down the long dirt road. They were going to have company in just a few minutes. James ran up the stairs and flung open the room where he had left Max and Jordan. "Ok my wonderful family its time to finish this, it's time for all of us to met are maker."

Max quickly began to speak, "James your grudge is against me not Jordan, please just leave her out of this, she wasn't even born when I gave you to the Horton's, please man have you no decency!" Jordan was speechless from what her dad had said to James, tears where streaming down her face.

"She has nothing to do with this….you are crazier than I am!" James yelled at Max. "She has everything to do with this, she had a life with my mother until YOU killed my mother for HER! You killed my mother for her! James shouted as he raised the gun from his side and pointed at Jordan.

"James NOOOO!" Max yelled. James swung around to face Max and said "this is for my mother" and shot Max….Bang!...Bang!...Bang!

"Daaaaaaaad!"

Woody, Garret, and the deputies had no more stepped out of their respective cars when they heard gun shots from the house and a woman scream immediately following.

"Jordan?"

Woody took off running toward the house with the men nearly on his heals. He broke the front door to the old house nearly off it's hinges. He then barreled up the old stair case and in to the doorway of the room where James and Jordan were.

"James drop it, drop the gun!" Woody yelled at James who was standing over Jordan with his gun aimed at her head.

James just smiled, "Goodbye sis" he nearly whispered. Jordan closed her eyes knowing that he was going to shoot her.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

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**_I love cliffhangers!_**


	13. Will I Be Ready

**_OK I'm sorry about the cliffhanger. I have to warn you this chapter is a little tough, short but tough._**

**_Disclaimer: The gang is not mine, just having fun with them!_**

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The bullets seemed like they hung in the air forever till they finally hit their target. James fell to his knees and slouched forward on to Jordan. He tried to speak in his last moments but he was gone.

Jordan struggled to get free from the James and the tape that was still holding her. Woody immediately ran to her side and aided in freeing her hands.

"I've got to check dad, Woody" Jordan exclaimed as he freed her from her last binding.

Garret had already made it to Max, Jordan quickly ran to his side. "He's alive! His heartbeat is weak but it's there" Garret shouted.

He turned to speak to the deputies that had just witnessed the whole ordeal, "Call for a Medi-vac, it might be his only hope!"

The deputies scrambled and were on the radio calling for the helicopter to come and take Max to the hospital. The next few minutes were excruciating. Jordan and Garret tended to Max, whose life was slipping away, while Woody and the deputies paced about waiting for the chopper to come.

Suddenly Woody stopped pacing, he was covered with a wave of guilt, this was his fault, he didn't get there soon enough. Max was laying there dying because he didn't make it in time. Tears had started to form in his eyes when Garret looked up at him. Garret jumped up and walked over to Woody.

"Don't do this, I know what you're thinking….this is not your fault. You have to be strong, strong for her especially if he doesn't pull thru!" Garret whispered to him so Jordan couldn't hear. Just then they could hear the chopper coming.

Woody took a deep breath, reached up and patted Garret on the shoulder, and made his way out of the room to meet the Medi-vac crew when they touched down.

The next few hours were sort of a blur for everyone. All Woody could remember was how wonderful it felt hugging Jordan before she stepped on to the chopper with her father. He told her that he would see her at the hospital, before he know it she had pulled him into her arms and whispered "Thank you" in his ear. His heart nearly broke.

They were now sitting outside the trauma unit at Springfield General Hospital. Max had been in surgery for at least two hours when one of the doctors appeared. They knew from the look on his face that it wasn't good news. Jordan got up and walked towards him. He simply shook his head, Max didn't make it, he was gone. Jordan just stood there, the room started to spin a little and then suddenly the air was sucked out of her lungs.

Woody had just made it to her side when she collapsed, he caught her in midair. The doctor called immediately for nurses to get a gurney and take Jordan into one of the rooms. Woody with the help of the nurses lifted her up and placed her on the gurney and in a split second she was gone.

Woody fell to his knees and the tears he had held back for days began to flow. Garret placed his hand on his shoulder. "Woody she's going to be ok, she's just overwhelmed with everything that has happened, and so are you. Just go ahead and cry, get out what you can because when she wakes up she is going to need you like she never has before." He looked up at Garret for a moment before getting up and sitting in one of the chairs in the waiting area. He knew he was right, but the question is 'Will I be ready'.


	14. Holding it Together

**_Disclaimer: Don't own them, would love to, but alas I do not._**

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It wasn't long after Jordan collapsed that a young doctor made his way down the hall looking for Woody and Garret. When he entered the waiting room to find Garret leaning against the wall sipping on a cup of coffee and Woody sitting with his head in his hands, both men looked up when the door opened.

"Detective Hoyt, Dr. Macy?" the doctor asked. Woody stood from his seat and he and Garret approached the doctor.

"I am Dr. Richards, I have been Ms. Cavanaugh attending physician in the ER this evening. Her collapse was apparently related to the stress from the past few days along with a somewhat severe case of dehydration. We have her hooked up to IV's to push fluids back in her system along with a mild sedative to help her relax and sleep. She is in and out but she is asking for the two of you. I would like to keep her tonight and tomorrow. Follow me and I'll take you to see her."

Woody and Garret simply nodded and followed the doctor to Jordan's room.

Woody stopped just before entering her room and took several deep breaths. Garret again placed his hand on his shoulder and said "She needs you, you have to be her strength, keep it together". All he could do was smile the littlest of smiles and shake his head in agreement.

Jordan was awake when they walked in she shot them a typical Jordan smile, they both knew it had to be the drugs. Garret approached the side of her bed first, "Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm as well as can be expected, I'm just so tired, what on earth are they giving me, I feel like I've been drunk for a week." Garret smiled and laughed a little.

"It's just something to help you relax and get a little sleep" Garret them stepped away from her and motioned for Woody.

Woody had only made it about three steps in the room before he stopped. The wires, tubes, and the beeping of the monitors scared the life out of him. When Garret motioned for him he slowly made is way to her bedside, he put his hands in his jacket pockets to try and hide the fact that his hands were shaking.

"There's my knight in shinning armor" Jordan spoke as she reached up and placed her hand on his arm, her eyes were full of tears.

Woody warmly smiled down at her trying to think of something to say. He finally squeezed out a "Hey, Jo" before looking away. He was looking for Dr Macy to save him from this moment because he knew he was going to breakdown, but he was gone.

He took a deep breath and reached behind him finding the chair and sat down next to her bed. Pulling his hands free from his pockets he reached out and laced his fingers with Jordan outstretched hand. He still couldn't look her in the eyes, he just looked their hands till he leaned over and kissed her hand and laded his head on top of them.

Jordan was totally puzzled by his actions, 'why won't he look at me' she thought to herself. She reached across her body and ran her fingers thru his hair, "Wood, is everything ok?"

He kissed her hand again and nuzzled his face against her hand as he spoke "No worries, Jo, just get some sleep, I'll still be here in the morning there will be plenty of time to talk then."

She agreed, she did need some rest but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. It wasn't long before she dozed off. Woody looked up at her when he thought she was asleep. Tears began falling down his cheeks, he tried to choke them back but it was too late. He laid his head back down and just cryed himself to sleep holding her hand.


	15. Waking in Tears

_**Thanks for all the great reviews!**_

_**Disclaimer: Not mine, I could only be so lucky!**_

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The tiniest bit of light began to filter its way in to Jordan hospital room just after dawn. Her eyes fluttered somewhat, the medicine had left her feeling very groggy. She slowly started to awaken when she felt something against her side, Woody. Bless his heart he never moved during the night, he still had a hold of her hand, he was indeed still here.

Jordan smiled at the sight of Woody asleep at her side, it was probably her first true smile in…hell probably a month. Tears slowly started to form in her eyes at the thoughts of everything that had happened the past few days. She laid there and silently cried for a long while.

Woody awoke to the sound of her crying. He decided to stay still and just let her get it out. His heart broke with everyone of her soft sobs, before he knew it he was crying along with her. He was trying to hide it but the instant she felt a tear hit her hand she spoke to him.

"Wood, you awake?" she asked quietly. He couldn't keep his emotions hid from her any longer. He raised his head to look her in the eyes, she was taken a back by his tears. With out saying a word she pulled at his hand, he got up from his chair and sat on the edge of her bed. He pulled her in to his arms, hugged her, and gently rocked her.

"I'm so sorry, Jo, I'm so so sorry" he spoke against the side of her head. The two of them cried in each others arms for a short while till they heard a gentleman clear his throat in the door way of the room.

"I hate to interrupt guys but the Springfield PD has some questions for Woody about….yesterday." Garret called from the doorway. Woody pulled from their embrace, kissed Jordan on the temple, then made his way towards the door.

"Would you stay with her till I am finished with my statement?" Woody asked Garret before exiting the room. Garret nodded in agreement and made his way back over to Jordan's bedside.

"How are you holding up kiddo?" he asked. Jordan smiled.

"I'm ok I guess, just trying to figure out how to cope with everything. I know it's going to be hard but I think I'll be alright." Garret looked at her in awe, he couldn't understand how she was taking everything so well. "Plus I've got you and Woody to look after me. I consider myself to be pretty fortunate to have you guys here with me. Truthfully I just can't wait to get out of here and get back to Boston."

Garret grimaced a little at the thought of going back to Boston, how was he going to tell her that not only was her family gone, but her home had gone up in flames.

"I can understand that, I don't blame you for wanting to get out of here the hospital food might keep you in here." They both shared a laugh

"Gar can I ask you something, Is…Is everything ok with Woody. I mean I know with everything that has happened I'm sure he's been upset but I've never seen him like this, I've never seen him cry. We haven't been on the best terms here lately and honestly I was surprised that he helped find me. I was even more surprised that he stayed here last night."

"Oh Jordan, you have no idea. He has been like a man possessed looking for you. I don't think anyone has ever seen him this way. I think he genuinely thought that we'd lost you, lost you forever." Garret paused and took her hand in his. "I think once we get you back to Boston, we get Max and James buried, you and he need to sit down and really try and talk things out, I know with all my heart that, that boy loves you."

Jordan puckered and tried not to cry but a few tears still managed to slide down her face. Garret smiled and wiped away her tears. "The main thing we need to focus on right now is getting to better, did they tell you anything?" He asked.

"No not really, but from what I can gather I must be really dehydrated since they are three bags of fluids going in at one time. Do you think they'll let me out this evening?" She asked nearly pleading.

"I'm not sure it's up to Dr Richards, I'll try and find him later and see…"

They were interrupted by an SPD detective, Woody followed him in.

"Dr Cavanaugh? I'm Detective Lucas with the SPD. Detective Hoyt has answered most of the questions regarding the….incident, we would like for you to clear up the final details before we officially close the case." Jordan nodded her head.

The detective opened his note pad and prepared to take down her statement, Woody made his way back to her bedside, helping her sit up a little further. He sat down in the chair opposite Garret hand he too grasped her hand as the detective started asking questions.

"Let's start from when you were taken, did he break in to your apartment?" He asked.

Jordan took a deep breath and squeezed both men's hands and began. "I came home from work and fell asleep on the couch. I heard something crash during the night and I went to check on it. As I stepped in to my bedroom he grabbed me from behind and chloroformed me. The next thing I know I'm in the back of a car."

The detective made several notes. "Were you awake when he shot the highway patrol officer?"

Jordan nodded.

"Did James tell you why he kidnapped you and your father?"

Jordan closed her eyes, "Yes, he told us from the get go that he brought us there to kill us"

You could have heard a pin drop in the room after her admission. She blinked back a few tears and continued. "He said it was for revenge because my dad and I both had ruined his life. That morning we argued, James was intent on shooting me first, but dad….dad yelled at him and he…he shot him right there in front of me. He turned to shoot me and Woody killed him, he killed him to save me." By this time she was sobbing and her words had started to slur.

Detective Lucas finished his notes, told her he was sorry for her lose, thanked her and quickey exited the room.


	16. No Where to Go

**_Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! Sorry it's took me so long to update. _**

**_Disclaimer: As much as I would love it if CJ were mine, alas they aren't. Just using and abusing them for fun!_**

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The rest of the day went by quietly. Jordan slept on and off all afternoon while Woody and Garret took turns staying with her. It wasn't till late evening that Woody motioned for Garret to come to the doorway of Jordan's room.

"I just spoke to Dr Richards, he is going to release her in the morning, we need to tell her….about her apartment." Woody spoke quietly so he didn't wake her.

Garret stood there and looked over at Jordan before he responded, "I know, but how do you tell someone that they have really lost everything, her family, her home, everything she owns. I just don't know how to do that, I really don't."

Woody smiled back at Garret, "Well she still has us and everyone back at the morgue, so she isn't alone, we just have to make sure she knows that."

Jordan began to stir a little bit. The men made their way to her bedside once again. Woody sat down on the edge of the bed and Garret took his seat in a chair he had come to know well.

"Jo, sweetheart, how are you feeling?" Woody asked as he reached for her hand.

"OK, are they ever going to let me out of here?" she asked.

"I spoke to your doctor and he is releasing you in the morning." He responded.

"Then why such the long faces fella's, we are going home tomorrow!" she said happily.

Woody and Garret traded looks for a minute then Garret began, "Home, that's what we need to talk to you about. The night….the night James took you he did something to cover his tracks.."

Jordan looked puzzled. "What, did he tear up my place, that's no big deal".

Woody sighed before he told her the truth. "No honey that's not it, he rigged something to cause a gas leak and….and an explosion. Jo there's nothing left"

Tears began to flow freely down Jordan's face. Suddenly she jerked her had away from Woody, surprising him. "Why didn't you tell me, you wait until I'm supposed to go home and you tell me……just get out, I just want to be alone."

They both stood and made their way toward the door. Woody stopped before he made it to the door. "She's not going to do this, I can't walk away, not now" he mumbled under his breath. He turned and went back to Jordan. She had pulled the blankets over head attempting to hid herself from the world. "Jordan" he called, she didn't answer. Leaning over her, he pulled the covers away from her face before he spoke.

"Do you remember the last time this happened, when I was the one telling you to get out? That was the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life and I won't let you make the same one now! So I've got news for you Jordan Marie, I'm going to take care of you like it or not! Understand?"

Jordan couldn't help but smile thru her tears. She knew he was right, she was getting ready to make a big mistake by pushing the last of her loved ones away, especially Woody.

She couldn't help but nod her head. "Wood…"

"Shhhh" he stopped her, "I'm going to take care of everything, you don't have to worry about a thing, ok. You just get your rest and I'll be here in the morning to take you home… home with me."

He kissed her on top of the head and pulled the blankets back up. Jordan smiled up at him before she closed her eyes. Woody ran the back of his knuckles down the side of her face. He had never seen her look more beautiful than she did at that second.

The urge to kiss her was nearly overwhelming, but he knew he didn't want to push her. After everything she'd been thru the past few days, he wanted her to feel loved, not smothered.

He again leaned down and kissed her head.

"Goodnight Jo" he whispered in her ear.

Woody exited her room and flipped open his phone. "Hey Lily, I need you help with something…."


	17. The Road Home

_**This is just a shortie but a goodie! **_

_**Disclaimer: Just borrowing everyone for a while, I'll give them back soon I promise**_.

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The "something" that Woody asked Lily to do wasn't that difficult of a task, but she was definitely glad she asked Bug and Nigel to help.

All she had to do was get Woody's spare room ready for Jordan and pick up her necessities. Woody had told her where to find his key and where it find his credit card, the rest was entirely up to her. Lily, being Lily jumped at the chance.

The three of them were loaded down with bags as they made their way to the apartment for the second time.

"Are you sure he meant… all of this Lily?" Bug asked hesitantly.

"Hey he said that it was up to me so…..here we are" she replied looking over the bags.

"OK its Woody's own fault for turning you loose with his credit card" Nigel laughed as they dumped the bags in Woody's living room.

"Alright now, it's not that much!" Lily fussed at them both. "Now lets get the bed dressed and her new clothes put up and well I'm not sure what to do with the other stuff, we'll just figure it out as we go. They'll be here in a few hours and I want to be done and out of here."

Meanwhile in a car heading east towards Boston…..

"Jo are you awake? You want to stop and get breakfast?" Woody called towards the backseat.

She replied with a mumble, something that sounded like no…..car sick….bad driver.

Woody laughed to himself and Garrett joined him.

"So…" checking the backseat to see if she was still asleep "Do you think they'll get things ready in time?" Garret asked quietly.

"Lil said she had it under control when I talked to her before we left the hospital, I'm sure thinks are fine"

"Woody, I don't want to sound like this but, please be careful with her, I know you mean well my letting her stay with you but I just don't want to see her hurt, with everything that's happened I'm not sure her heart can take it"

Woody nodded his head. "I am fully aware of that. Right now I have no intensions but to be her best friend and take care of her. If there is anything else that's up to her, but not right now, maybe in time. In a couple of weeks if she wants to find her own place, I'll let her, if she wants to stay forever, I'll let her do that too."

Garret smiled at his response, which was definitely what he wanted to hear.


	18. Notes and Teddy Bears

_**This is both serious and has a few funnies, I hope you enjoy! Thanks for all the reviews! **_

_**Disclaimer: CJ is not mine, oh well maybe I'll get it for Christmas next year!**_

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In less than two hours they were back in Boston. Woody looked over his shoulder to see a still sleeping Jordan. He nudged Garret whom had also fallen asleep.

"Hey, do you want me to drop you off at your house or at the morgue?" Woody asked.

Garret rubbed his eyes for a moment. "Just drop me off at the morgue, my car is there, plus I should probably check on things before I go home."

"No problem, don't be a stranger now, you come over to see her anytime you like, you hear" Woody said as he pulled in to the parking lot.

"Thanks, I may be over this evening, we need to talk to her about her dad's arraignments, he should already be here." Garret responded and quietly stepped out of the car and closed the door.

Woody pulled out from the lot with a heavy mind. 'How on earth are we going to get her thru the funeral?' he thought to himself. He knew that everyone would be there for her, including himself. What would he do if it was too much for her to bare losing everything, would she run or completely breakdown? He just shook his head and continued the drive back to his apartment, he would just have to deal with what came.

"Jo, honey are you awake?" he called into the back seat. She mumbled a response at first, then with a weak "yeah" she answered him.

"Lets get you upstairs, you've been curled up in this car for over three hours", he stated simply as he opened her door and held out his hand. Jordan rubbed her eyes for a moment and gladly accepted his hand.

They were silent on the ride up the elevator to his floor. He opened his door and dropped everything on the counter.

"So were exactly am I supposed to be staying? The couch?" she asked hesitantly.

Woody smiled, "No, I can probably squeeze you into the spare room".

They walked over to the door of her new room and they both were surprised.

"How did…." She spoke, she turned to him with a very puzzled look on her face. All Woody could do was smile one of those melt your heart, Farm Boy smiles. He could see the tears welling up in her eyes, but he was sure that these tears were happy tears.

Jordan slowly made her way into the room. She looked over her new bed, complete with teddy bear. When she picked him up she laughed, "Lily, this had to be Lily's doing".

"I think there is everything you'll need for a little while till you get back on your feet" he spoke, leaning against the door frame. He then pointed to the closet and the chest of drawers.

She opened the closet first finding a few pairs of new jeans, some shirts, shoes and even a new jacket. Leaving the closet door open she walked over to the chest where she found her intimates.

The top drawer contained a note from Lily. '_J, I hope everything fits, if not I still have the receipts. We did the best we could on short notice, so I hope you like everything. I wasn't really sure what is going on with you two so I stayed pretty conservative with the PJ's and the robe (haha). I'm so glad your home! See you this evening. Love, Lil'_

Jordan could help but laugh out loud at Lily's note, 'Lily always the romantic' she thought.

"What?" Woody inquired. She just smiled and shoved the note back in the drawer, "Nothing, Lily just left me a note in my panty drawer". He squinted his eyes at her for a moment, "Okay"

Jordan closed the door to the closet and took a seat on her new bed. That's when she saw it, the picture on the night stand. It was a picture taken over a year ago, it was of her family at the morgue. She slowly picked it up and ran her finger over the glass, remembering the moment.

"I guess this is all the family I have now, huh?" she spoke softly.

Woody left the doorway and sat down next to her, "I know that no one in that picture is blood related, but we are a family none the less. Everyone in that picture loves you Jo."

He wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. She set the picture back on the night stand and whipped the stray tears from her cheeks. Finally she turned to look at Woody and spoke, "I know they do Woody, I know you do. How do I even begin to thank you for all this, I really don't know what to say other than thanks and….". She slowly ran her finger down the side of his face and gave him a light kiss on the lips.

Jordan leaned back and looked into his eyes before she threw her arms around him and started to cry. He didn't attempt to shush her, he just let her go knowing that she needed to. For a while they just sat, sat there in each others arms, till she finally settled down.

"Thank you Woody for everything" she whispered as she released him.

"For you Jo, I'd do anything", he responded before he smiled at her. "You going to be ok?" Jordan nodded.

Woody reached out to her hand and laced his fingers with hers. "You know your welcome to stay here for as long as you need and want to, I just want you to feel safe. When ever you feel like your ready to move out, I'll help you find an apartment, I'll even help you move. I'll do what ever you want. All I want is for you to be happy, OK? Now all this is under one condition….." she looked at him strangely for a second, "Don't hog the bathroom".

She jerked her hand from his and play slapped him on the arm. He rolled back on the bed holding his arm, "Oh I see how this is going to be, you're going to abuse me…"

"Your full of it, you know that?" she said as she stood up and offered him a hand up.

He smiled at her. "Yeah I know, still not sure full of what yet but I know one thing, I am in desperate need of a shower, it has been like….2 days. So if you don't mind I'll probably be in there for…an hour."

"Go for it, I'll take a look-see in the fridge and see what I can scare up for a late lunch", she said as rose from the bed and headed off to his own room.

"Lily said that Nigel and Bug bought a few groceries while they were out on their midnight shopping trip so there should be something." He yelled from the other room.

"I'm not really sure I want to see what they bought" she laughed to herself as she made her way to the kitchen.


	19. Shadows of the Truth

**_The reviews you guys have been giving me are very encouraging. Thanks so much._**

**_This chapter has some strange stuff toward the end, so I hope you like it._**

**_Disclaimer: Not mine, I could only wish_**

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The following morning Jordan awoke in her new bed to the wonderful smell of coffee and something else she couldn't quite put her finger on. She rubbed her eyes and slowly lifted herself out of bed. Looking down at herself she couldn't help but laugh at her pajama's, kittens and puppies how cute. She reached for her very comfy looking red fleece robe and headed out to find out what's cooking. 

"Morning sleepyhead, is the bed comfortable?" He asked flipping pancakes.

"Best night's sleep I've had in a long time, something sure does smell good" she responded.

"Oh that, it's probably just me" he couldn't help but grin as she narrowed her eyes at him. "I think I figured out what your full of…." ,she sharply replied, then she too started to smile.

They both shared laughs during breakfast. Jordan couldn't help think to herself that she could get used to waking up with a man in the kitchen fixing her pancakes.

"So I guess you have to work today huh?" she asked at the end of their meal.

"Afraid so, I better go in, I kind of took off and didn't tell anyone where I was going, Nigel covered for me thank goodness. We would definitely be in trouble if I got fired, I guess you would have to be my 'Sugar Mama'". They both laughed and he got up from the table and dropped a kiss on the top of her head as he headed in to the kitchen. "Do you want me to drop you off at the morgue or do you want to just hang out here today?"

"Hmm, I'll probably go to the morgue, I need to get everything ready for Dad's funeral today, I figured that Lily could help. Oh and I need to get started trying to get a new drivers license since I lost all of my id's in the fire. By the way what happened to my car since your offering me a ride?"

"You don't want to know"

"That bad huh? Just tell me".

"Part of the building fell on it the night of the fire"

"Perfect"

Jordan got up and headed to the shower herself. She thanked God for Lily again as she got ready, she had thought of everything from shampoo to makeup. She slipped her robe back on before she left the bathroom, 'Don't want to give Woody a heart attack' she thought to herself.

She hurried up and got dressed so Woody could get to work, although she got the impression earlier he wasn't in a big hurry to get there.

"You ready?" She called into his bedroom. He was sitting on the bed tying his shoes.

"Just one second and I'm ready". His quickly stood up and Woody noticed a funny look on Jordan's face.

"What?" he asked as he walked by her.

"Ugly Tie!"

"Oh stop it, let's go before I make you walk to the morgue" he called back to her from the doorway.

After he pulled up in front of the morgue, she reached over and grabbed his hand, "I don't know if I can tell you this enough but thank you". She then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

"Call me if you need anything" he told her as she opened the door of the car.

"Will do, see you this evening, how bout Chinese?" she asked stepping out of the car.

"Sure, the place on 5th ok?"

She nodded and waved goodbye to him. After watching him driveway she turned and looked at the building. 'No place like home' she thought to herself as she made her way inside. Part of her was so excited to see everyone but her heart was filled with dread. She knew what she had to do today, see her father and make his funeral arrangements. Slowly she took a deep breath as the elevator doors opened.

It was still early and things appeared to be quiet until…

"Jordan!" Lily screamed as she ran up and hugged Jordan. "What are you doing here? I tried calling you last night but Woody said you had already gone to sleep. Is everything ok?"

"Easy Lil, calm down. Everything is ok, I just need a little help getting arraignments made, and…and I would like to see him" she responded pulling free of Lily's embrace.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Lily quietly asked, Jordan simply nodded.

"OK" Lily lead Jordan down the hall to the crypt and told where to find him. She tried to follow her in but Jordan quickly put her hand up to stop her.

"If you don't mind I would really like to have a few minutes alone" she said with a sorrow filled smile.

Jordan slowly made her way in to the crypt and found the drawer. She held her breath as she pulled out the stainless steel tray. As she pulled back the sheet the tears started to flow down her cheeks.

"What do I do now daddy? What do I do with out you" she whispered thru her sobs.

"……Live you life Jordan….." a shadowy voice called from the dark corner of the room.

"Whaa…" she could barley speak as she scanned the room trying to focus on the location of the familiar voice. "Dad?"

A large shadow seemingly stepped out the corner and began to speak. "Shhh, Jordan. Now I want you to listen to me, I only have a moment. Don't dwell on this, on what happened. Everything is going to be ok, your going to be ok. You're a strong girl, you'll be fine without me.

I want you to move on with your life, marry, have a half a dozen kids if that makes you happy. I just want you to be happy. You've wasted so much time on searching for your mothers killer that life has slipped by you. You now have the truth, so let it set you free. I love you sweetheart, take care of yourself".

Jordan couldn't believe what she was seeing or hearing but she whispered "I love you too" In that instant the shadow was gone. She stood there staring at the corner for a long while before returning her eyes to her fathers body.

"Good bye Dad" she spoke as she covered his face back up with the sheet. She shut the drawer and walked toward the door. Quickly she glanced to the corner, but it was empty this time.


	20. Quick Kisses and Sleepy Confessions

_**Disclaimer: Not mine, I could only wish!**_

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Hours following her encounter with her father were filled with lots of hugs and encouragement from her coworkers. She had gotten all the arrangements made for her fathers funeral with help of Lily, Garret and Rene of all people. The funeral was set for the day after tomorrow. He was going to have a policeman's funeral. She wasn't sure if that's what he would have wanted but she wanted it for him. He was definitely a good cop, even after his forced retirement he had helped her solve countless numbers of cases and he enjoyed every minute of it.

She had settled into her office to make the last of her phone calls in an attempt to get her identity back. It dawned on her, 'What address do I give them'. She ponders for a moment and reaches for her phone.

"This is Hoyt" he answers grumbley.

"Hey sunshine, sounds like you having a good day" she greets him extra sweet.

"Sorry Jo, I'm just up to my eyeballs right now, I'm not sure when I can come and get you I'm sorry…."

He sounds just down right pitiful, bless his heart. "That's ok, I'll find a ride in a little while, but I'll have to stop and get your key. Anyway that's not why I'm calling, I need your address"

"634 Broad Street, Apartment 5D, Why?" he asked.

"Well I since I'm going to be there for a while I need somewhere to get my mail, I have bills to pay you know. Plus the DMV and the bank don't really like for you to not have an address."

Woody couldn't help but smile, she said that she was going to be there for a while. He was quickly interrupted by his chief handing him another assignment. "Jo, sweetie I've got to go. I'll just run my key by in a few minutes on my way out to Beacon Hill, would you come down stairs and meet me?"

"See you in a sec" she quickly replied but he was already gone. She couldn't help but feel a little guilty for his insanity today. If he wouldn't have been out all over creation looking for her and staying with her in the hospital he wouldn't be in such hot water at the precinct.

It wasn't but a few minutes till he came barreling into the parking lot behind her office building. As she got up off of the steps she could see him stepping out of the car, rummaging thru his pants and jacket looking for his keys. By the time she made it around to the drivers door he had them hanging on the edge of his finger.

"Hey" she said with a smile grabbing the keys.

"Hey yourself" he responded with his own bright smile.

"Been having a fun day at the office?" He couldn't help but roll his eyes, but the office was the last thing on his mind right now. Woody had been in a furious rush to get to his next crime but seeing her, he didn't care if he ever got there.

Reaching out for her hand he asked "Are you doing ok?"

"I'm ok; it's been kind of a strange morning I suppose. I knew eventually this day would come but I just never figured it would be like this, you know? She responded squeezing his hand. He pulled her hand to his lips giving her a small kiss on the top and quickly pulled her into his arms. She gratefully welcomed his embrace, deep down she had needed it all day.

"You're going to be ok Jo, I promise" he whispered in to her hair.

She pulled away from him just enough to see his face. Jordan cupped his face in her hands scanning his face for just a second before she pressed her lips to his. The kiss just lasted seconds but carried so much emotion for both of them. She had tears in her eyes when she broke the kiss and hugged him closer than he was before.

Woody was speechless. He just responded and pulled her close when she hugged him.

He could hardly hear her when she whispered "Thank you so much for everything; I don't know what I would do without you". He tightened his embrace; her words were music to his ears. Never before in four years had she every really admitted that she need him until now, he just hated it that it was under these sort of circumstances.

In a few moments she began to pull away and he regretfully let her. "I better let you go back to work, you don't need any more trouble than you've already got" she said with a smile.

He couldn't help but return her smile before speaking, "Hey one thing about what we do, they won't go anywhere. Plus I'd be crazy to leave the arms of a beautiful woman like yourself."

She smiled and blushed from his comment. "Get out of here; I'll see you this evening"

"Oh alright, man you wouldn't believe the traffic on the way to the crime scene, just awful" he said laughing, "See you at home, Jo".

'Home' she thought as she walked away, giving him a quick wave goodbye. She stood on the steps watching him pull away, when she turned to go back up stairs she was met with two snickering faces, Bug and Nigel.

"Alright you two, not a word" she said pointing her finger at them like they were a couple of grade schoolers in trouble.

"Nothing from us, love, just been observing" Nigel said behind a sneaky grin. Bug just smiled.

"Don't you two have some where to be?"

"Oh yes love we do, with dear Woodrow! Can't wait till we get there, I'll have to see if he got any tongue back there. With that Nigel ran toward the van.

"What am I going to do with him Bug" she asked laughing.

"I don't know Jordan, he can be a hand full at times. He's just pickin' at you, you know that right?"

She just smiled and walked back into the building.

The rest of the afternoon Jordan spent in the sanctity of her office filling out paperwork. Over and over again she filled out her new address on her application for her drivers license, her credit cards, magazine subscriptions then it hit her. 'What if I leave? I'll have to do this all again. What I don't want to leave? What if I want to stay with him?'

She leaned her head against her hands, her mind filled with a thousand questions. Then she remembered what he said in the parking lot earlier "See you at home". He said home, and it felt right. It felt like something she's been waiting for all her life. She still loved him there was no question in her mind, but did he still have feelings for her? She thought so but how could she be sure before she let things get too far, before she got too comfortable with him.

Jordan let out a long sigh and then a knock came at her door. "Garret"

"How are things going? Getting things finished up?" he asked leaned in the doorframe.

"Almost, I think all I have left to do is run by the bank and the DMV and I'll be done. Thank goodness, if I have to fill out my name and address one more time I'm going to scream." She said with a laugh, then leaning back into her chair.

"I have to ask Jordan, is Woody treating you ok?" Typical Garret she thought from his question, always the worrier.

"Yes big brother, he's been a perfect gentleman. He's been rather incredible actually. I'm so glad to have him back in my life, I just wish it could have been under other circumstances" She replied with a few tears starting to form in her eyes.

Garret moved from the door over to the corner of her desk and sat down. He handed her a tissue out the box before he spoke, "I'm glad everything is going ok. You know I was rather impressed with Woody myself. I've never seen him like that, like when you were missing. He was so driven, he pushed everyone to the brink, he was truly a man possessed. I was pretty obvious to all of us how connected the two of you are, even though you had been having….problems."

A smile spread across Jordan's face, it wasn't difficult to picture Woody crazily searching for her, even after everything that had happened, after the shooting, after all the anger, after the coffee incident for that matter. Then a question popped into her head, "You know I have been wondering, how did you find me?"

"That my dear I cannot answer, you'll have to ask Woody. He lead us to everything, we just ran the evidence he collected. It was all sort of strange how things fell into place, but I'm glad they did." Garret reached over and patted her on the shoulder as he rose from his seat. "It's good to have you back, things just wouldn't be the same without you around here", with that Garret exited her office.

She again was alone with her thoughts and now even more question. Many of these questions would just have to wait until after her fathers funeral. Jordan already had enough to deal with emotionally; she definitely didn't need to dredge up anything else right now. It would probably be better to leave the business with Woody alone for the moment, she deal with that once she had got back in to a routine with work and life for that matter.

Jordan decided that enough was enough; it was time to go home. She stopped and grabbed the keys for one of the older morgue vehicles so she would at least have some transportation till she could get something of her own. Heading towards the elevator she spotted Lily sitting in her office.

"Hey Lil, I'm heading out, I just wanted to thank you for everything again. I don't think I'm coming in tomorrow so I'll see you on Thursday. If anything comes up I'll be at Woody's".

"Ok Jordan, call me if you need anything" peaking her head around a stack of paperwork, "promise?"

"I promise Lilly" she called as she left the doorway.

All Jordan wanted to do was go 'home', take a bath and rest.

Several hours later Woody finally made it home to find Jordan curled up on his couch, he smiled to himself at the sight. As quietly as he could he dropped his keys and his wallet on the kitchen counter. He laid his suit jacket on the back of the couch and made his way to her bedroom so he could turn the covers back on her bed. He couldn't help but watch her sleep for a moment, for someone who had been thru so much she truly looked at peace and beautiful.

Slowly he slipped his arms underneath her and carried her to her bed. As gently as he could he laid her on the cool white sheets and pulled the comforter over her. Woody took one step away from the bed and he turned to take one last look at her for the night. This time he just couldn't help himself; he leaned over the bed and lightly kissed her on the lips.

"Goodnight Jo, sweet dreams" he whispered in her ear.

Jordan nuzzled down into her pillow and then she mumbled "Nite Wood, Love you".

Woody was shocked, he quickly and quietly made his way out of the room. He stood outside of her room and shook his head. 'Did she mean it or was she just talking in her sleep? Would she remember in the morning?' he thought to himself. With a thousand other questions running thru his head he whispered "I love you too".


	21. Busy Day

Woody nearly beat his alarm to death the last time he pressed the snooze button. He didn't want to get out of bed; it had taken him nearly three hours to go to sleep. It was hard to tell what had kept him awake, but he was pretty damn sure it was the lady he could hear taking a shower in the next room. Slowly he sat up and turned to put his feet to the floor, then he looked at the clock. "Oh Hell", he exclaimed, it was already 8:30 and he had to be there at 9:00. Hurriedly, he gathered his clothes for the day and headed to the bathroom.

"Jordan, Jordan sweetie, I've got to get in there, boss will have my ass if I'm late" he yelled thru the door. Then he heard the shower cut off.

"Hold on to your horses mister, just let me get dried off." She paused, then with a sly expression on her face she peaked her head out of the door "that is unless you _want_ to see me naked and wet!"

Woody's face turned blood red. "As tempting as that sounds, I really have to get a move on or I'm toast at the station".

"Oh alright! Your loss", she exclaimed as she flung open the door. He rushed past her clad in only his boxer shorts and shut the door. Jordan could help but raise an eyebrow and let out a low whistle at the sight.

Dressed only in her robe and her hair wrapped up in a towel, she headed toward the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. She hunted around in his cabinet trying to find a travel mug so she could send some with Woody since he was running so late this morning. Finally she found one hidden in the very back. She took it from the cabinet and rinsed it out to get rid of the year's worth of dust.

She thought to her self, 'he won't have time to stop for breakfast either'. So she opened the fridge and found a few things that resembled breakfast.

By the time he emerged from the bathroom he was dressed and ready to go, and she had his food and coffee in her hand waiting at the door.

"That for me?" he asked gathering his keys and wallet.

She smiled. "Yup I didn't figure that you would have time so here's coffee and a ham and cheese on toast, not exactly breakfast but hey I had to work with what we got."

He happily grabbed the items and kissed her on the cheek. "Bless your heart, I….I'll talk to you later", he said as he practically ran out the door.

Jordan had a strange look on her face as she shut the door behind him. She couldn't help but to think he was going to say something else. 'Nah' she said to herself quickly dismissing the thought that he was going to say "I love you".

It wasn't too long before she was ready to head out for the day. The thought of staying in his apartment all day by herself was, well unbearable. She grabbed Woody's keys, the car keys and her jacket and headed out for the day.

All had gone well during the day; she had a new drivers license, new debt card, and even a new cel phone. She was especially happy with her new phone, deciding to spoil her self a little she bought the best one they had with all the new features. The last task of the day was to find something to wear for tomorrow.

Jordan entered the shop that she had frequented quite often; it was a small boutique that Nigel had brought her to several years ago.

"Ms Cavanaugh! Good to see you, can I help you find anything?" called the clerk from behind the counter.

Jordan smiled. "Hi Rebecca, well actually I do need some help. I need something to wear to funeral, but I would like it to be professional enough that I could use it again. Have anything like that?"

Rebecca's happy expression disappeared, turning in to a look of concern. She reluctantly asked "Is it anyone I know?"

Jordan could feel the tears well up, but she replied "It's my father". Rebecca immediately put her arm around Jordan and consoled her for her loss.

"I think that I might just have the thing for you" Rebecca walked to the back of the store and found a classic black suit with a long black skirt and a lacey camisole to go underneath the jacket.

They ladies took the suit into the dressing room and Jordan tried it on, it was a perfect fit. She turned several times in the mirror looking at herself, she agreed that this could be good court testimony apparel as well as for what she needed it for tomorrow.

"I'll take it" she called out of the dressing room to Rebecca.

Jordan was ready to pay for her suit when something else caught her eye. It was a long red dress that had a split almost up to the hip. It reminded her of a dress she had years ago that she wore while working on a case with Woody. She couldn't help but smile and laugh a little.

"I think I'll take this red number if it's in my size". Low and behold it was her size, she couldn't have been happier. "All I need is everything that goes under these and shoes and I'll be set". Rebecca gladly helped her gather everything and sent her on her way.

Jordan was heading back to Woody's apartment when she decided to call and check in with him. "This is Detective Hoyt, how can I help you?"

She laughed "Well hello there Detective, yes you can help me…."

"Jordan, I didn't recognize the number, that's why I answered….never mind. I see someone's been busy today. New phone huh? Woody was somewhat embarrassed from the way he answered the phone, but those were the rules when you didn't know who was calling.

"Yes actually I have been, new license, new check card, new phone, and even some new clothes. I was wondering if my favorite roommate wanted Chinese for diner since we couldn't yesterday."

Woody's tummy rumbled at the thought of food. "Yes that would be great; I should be out of here in a few minutes".

"Good then I'll stop and pick it up. I'll see you in a bit" she said as she was turning into the Chinese place that they used order from almost every week.

"Ok Jo, see you at home", Woody happily responded.

There was that word again 'home'. She smiled, to think a home, a home with Woody. She sat in the car for a short while thinking of what a home with him would be like. Could it be a house, a Labrador Retriever, a big tabby colored cat, 2.5 kids, white picket fence, and even a tire swing? She shook her head; she couldn't do this right now. It was possible that her grief for her father was clouding her judgment or was this really how she felt, was this what she really wanted. Did Jordan Cavanaugh really want a life with Woody? She quickly dismissed the thought and headed in the China Dragon to buy their dinner.

Woody sat on the steps leading up to his apartment building waiting on Jordan. Laughing to himself, he remembered how long he had been waiting on her, what four and a half years. It was true that he had never waited for her to come home to his apartment, that was totally different, but the waiting part he was definitely accustomed to. Just as he was getting ready to dial her new number she pulled into the lot.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, it took them a little longer than I expected." she apologized at soon as she saw him coming towards her.

"It's ok, I haven't been here that long. Here let me help you with the bags" he said grabbing part of the bags. They had made up to the apartment when one of the bags slipped thru Woody's fingers, spilling out all of Jordan's recently purchased undergarments. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable, and she turned a bright shade of crimson as he picked up a slinky black bra and matching thong. Holding them up at eye level for inspection he simply let out a "HMMM". Jordan dropped their dinner on the counter and immediately grabbed her things out of his hand and the rest from the floor.

"Don't get any bright ideas Farm Boy!" she spouted angrily, then rushing off to her bedroom with her things.

Woody ran a shaky hand over his face in an attempt to regain his composure. The thoughts of her in that nearly sent him over the edge. "God help me if I ever see her in that", he mumbled to himself as he pulled the white boxes and chop sticks from the bags.


	22. Finally at Rest

Thursday morning finally came for Jordan, the day of her father's funeral, the day she would put him in the ground. Jordan stood and looked in the mirror attempting to put her makeup on but it was all she could do not curl up in the corner and cry her eyes out. She knew she had to get thru this day, somehow, but at this point she still wasn't really sure how. So she stands in front of the mirror, staring at her self, trying to come up with the answer. She got her answer the second Woody tapped on the door.

"Jordan, sweetheart, we've got to get going….." he called from the other side of the bathroom door.

"Two minutes, I'll be out" she grumbled back at him. This was his third call.

She smiled when she thought of Woody, he had been wonderful thru it all. What on earth would she have done with out him the past few days. He could always tell when she was down, then the corny jokes would start. Last night was no exception, he teased her about her "lil' britches" that had fell out of the bag, she couldn't help but laugh. The butt floss comment was her undoing, he had made her laugh all evening. She was pretty sure that was his intent to keep her mind off things.

"Ok, pull it together Cavanaugh, you can do this" she said to herself straightening up her clothes and taking one last look in the mirror.

Exiting the bathroom to find Woody standing dressed in his formal police uniform. She smiled, he had always looked wonderful in that uniform. Sadly this was the only occasion she had seen him wear it, police funerals.

"You ready?" he asked her as wrapped her up in a hug. She simply nodded into his chest. He quickly kissed her on top of the head. "You'll be ok, I promise"

Woody then helped with her jacket and they headed out to the car that was waiting for them. He had grabbed her hand and held on to her for dear life. They quietly made their way to St. Inez.

Once inside the church Woody walked her up to the front to see her father before anyone else arrived and the services started. For a while she just stood there as if she was in shock. She finally reached her hand down to touch her father's, that's when the tears began to pour from her eyes. Woody put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. It wasn't long till she turned and buried her head into his chest sobbing. They stood this way for quite a while, the two of them completely submerged in grief.

The two of them heard the main doors open, it was the rest of their family, Garret, Nigel, Lily and Bug. Jordan reached down and grabbed Woody's hand and they walked back to sit in the second row of seats. Everyone exchanged hugs and words of comfort before they sat down. She had Woody's hand on the right and Garret's on the left in attempt to stay strong.

The service was in a word, beautiful. Her friends Paul's words absolutely touched her heart. Paul spoke so eloquently of life, love, and hope. She honestly had never seen so many cops cry at once, especially not the one next to her, not Woody. Tears were not what she was expecting to see from him today, but in some ways he had loved Max as his own, not just as a fellow officer. So, her tears fell freely yet again

Soon the services were over. Paul had said the last prayer and dismissed everyone to go to the graveside. Jordan, Woody and the rest of her family hung back for a few minutes while the rest of the congregation left for their cars. Garret, Nigel, Bug and Woody were all pallbearers along with several men from the department.

Woody hugged Jordan and whispered "I'll be right back, you Ok?" as he reluctantly pulled away from her.

"I'm alright, see you in a few minutes" she said softly as he replaced his hand with Lily's for her to hold on to while he was gone.

The eight gentlemen carried Max out to the hurse for his last ride. Jordan and Lily followed them out quietly. She was somewhat surprised when they arrived outside to see the four police motorcycles and three cruisers dressed in black drapes with there lights flashing silently. When the coffin was loaded Woody rejoined Jordan and headed to the car that was for them. She didn't speak a word the entire trip to the cemetery, it had been quite some time since she had been to her mothers grave. Now her mother wouldn't be alone any longer, only she would.

When the funeral procession stopped near the burial site, Woody again handed Jordan over to Lily while he and the others did their duty. Jordan and Lily waited at the graveside along with what seemed like a hundred others. As the gentlemen carried her father towards the site she noticed something draped over the casket, it was the policemen's flag.

Slowly but surely they made their way towards the site till finally they placed the casket on top of the vault. Once everyone was settled at the graveside Paul began with the graveside prayers. He was only just a few minutes in when the lightest of snow began to fall. Woody immediately put his arm around Jordan for not only comfort but for warmth.

The longer Paul spoke the heavier it snowed, it had slowly started to cover the ground. Jordan looked up at the sky for a moment deep in her thoughts, 'tears from heaven I suppose', she thought to herself.

At the end of the service the several officers got up including the chief and as the bagpipes played they ceremoniously folded up the flag that covered the casket. When they were finished the chief walked over to Jordan and placed the flag in her lap and thanked her for her fathers years of service to Boston. She turned to Woody and buried her head in his shoulder as she fought off the inevitable sobs. With that everyone started to leave and head for their cars.

Jordan sat for several more minutes with Woody till finally he stood her to her feet.

"Sweetheart, it's time" he said lifting her chin to look in her tear swollen eyes. She simply nodded and they started to make their way back to the car. In the back ground they slowly started to lower Max in to the ground, his final resting place, next to Emily.


	23. Worth the Risk?

_I hope everyone like this chapter. I have had a serious case of writers block as of late.I've really struggled with where to take things, so I hope I made the right choice._

_Disclaimer: CJ is not mine, I could only wish!_

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As the days turned to weeks following the funeral, Jordan's life seemed to return to some form of normalcy. She had laid her father to rest next to her mother, her brother had been cremated and his ashes had been tossed into the Charles River, forever washing him from her life.

It was a few days before she returned to work, but she was more than ready. She was ready to do what she did the best, catch the bad guys. Everyone welcomed her back with open arms, especially Garret. He had missed her presence immensely. Her bond with her friends had grown so much with her ordeal. She no longer took any of their friendships for granted, especially a friendship with a certain detective.

Jordan and Woody's relationship had grown by leaps and bounds over the course of a few weeks. They were not only roommates but they had once again become best friends. Seemingly every evening they were together. Jordan would come home and either pick up dinner or would whip up one of her famous Italian meals. Woody would clean up the dishes and do other chores around the house after dinner, then they would simply spend the evening laughing and talking. The crew from the morgue teased them to no end about acting like an "old couple", they just laughed. That may have been true, but they were just happy spending time with each other. They had connected on an emotion level that neither of them had experienced before, but in the physical aspects of their relationship nothing had changed. At bed time they would brush their teeth together and part to go to their separate rooms. Neither of them wanted to push that part of a relationship on the other so they just left it alone, if it was meant to be, the time would come.

For the first time in Jordan's life she was nearly happy. She missed her father so much, she thought of him often thru out the day but his words echoed in her head, 'I just want you to be happy'. Smiling at the thought, Jordan continued to fix dinner for her and Woody.

It wasn't long till the door opened and he was standing there with his nose in the air. "Oh, I was hoping that smell was coming from in here, you can smell what you're cooking all the way down the hall."

"Wouldn't you like to know…" she said raising her eyebrow at him.

He couldn't help but laugh at her innuendo as he made his way over to her to kiss her on the cheek. "You know, your spoiling me right?"

"Let's just say I'm paying off a longstanding debt for my knight in shinning armor", a smile was starting to form at the corner of her mouth. Woody just rolled his eyes at her comment.

He leaned against the counter as he started to sort thru the mail out loud, "bill, Jordan, Jordan, junk, Jordan, bill, BPD Valentine Ball invitation, hmm, Jordan, Jordan ,and what a surprise…Jordan. OOO this is a letter from a lawyer, someone's in trouble", he taunted her. She had to chase him all over the living room to finally retrieve her letter.

"Michael D. Brown, Attorney at Law, Columus, Ohio? I haven't been to Ohio since I was a kid, what in the world is this…." She questioned at she opened the letter. Woody sat back and watched her face as she read the contents of the letter quietly. Slowly tears started to form in her eyes and roll down her cheeks.

"Jo what is it?" he asked moving next to her.

"It's a copy of dad's will and a letter." She let her hand drop and gave the papers to Woody.

His eyes were filled with disbelief as he read the letter, and it wasn't long before he too had tears. "Did you know, did he ever tell you?"

She nodded her head. Woody immediately pulled her into his arms and held her while she cried. Jordan never expected to receive a letter from her father, especially one that detailed what had happened the night her mother died. The letter contained every small detail about her mothers illness, what happened with her brother, how he covered her murder up, it even went as far to disclose the details of the Malden case from a few years prior. There was no way for her to be prepared for this, she knew what happened, but not in this much detail. She never intended on telling Woody either but at that moment it felt like the right thing to do.

It was a while before she pulled away from him, whipping the stray tears from her reddened face. "Woody, what you've read, what you know, you can never tell anyone. I don't want my father's name drug thru the mud because he tried to protect me. Promise me Woody please!" she nearly begged.

"I promise, not matter what, I promise" he responded. He slowly guided her over to the couch and made her sit down.

She then began to read the other contents of the letter, Max's will. He had of course left all of his worldly possessions to his only daughter. It included instructions to a storage facility in Boston where he had kept his belongings while he was on the run. The rest of his belongings would be sent in a few weeks from Columbus. There was also information on an insurance policy.

"Oh my, Woody, look at this…." she gasped and handed the information to Woody. His eyes widened as he read.

"Does that say what I think it does" Jordan just nodded again.

Apparently while Jordan was small Max got a rather hefty insurance policy. He wanted to make sure if something happened to him on the street that she would be able to finish her schooling. The policy had evidentially matured quite a bit thru out the years.

The two of them just leaned back into the couch. It was a while before she rose and made her way into the kitchen to check on their dinner. The entire situation was rather overwhelming for Jordan. All she knew was she would trade it all just to have her father back.

Woody soon joined her in the kitchen, he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She seemed to relax from his embrace and he leaned back against him.

"What am I going to do with all that? I didn't even know he had that policy. What am I going to do with his things? I guess I could invest some of the money….." she was beginning to ramble when he stopped her.

"Don't worry Jo, we'll figure something out. You should probably call that lawyer in the morning to find out what you need to do."

"We Hmmm?" she shot at him sarcastically.

He backed off immediately. "Jo, I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it…."

"Woody…it's ok. Just teasing. I guess there is kind of a _we_ isn't there?" she could feel his smile against the side of her face.

"Yeah, I think there kind of is a 'we' now, what do _you_ want to do with that?" he asked turning her around in his arms.

They were face to face for a moment before she reached up and cupped his face in her hands. She gently pressed her lips to his, waiting for him to respond before she offered to deepen the kiss. To her surprise though he didn't, they continued with the slow and steady pace of kisses until he finally pulled away from her.

"Jo.." he said breathlessly, "Slow down a little babe, remember we have to live here together…"

She leaned back to look at him, completely confused by his hesitancy. "I thought…..I thought this was what you wanted…I'm sorry….." Jordan began to back away from him and started walking toward her room.

"Jordan…..Jordan stop" he spoke with a tone she had never heard him use before. Slowly she turned around to find him standing right in front of her. His eyes were burning with a passion and a fury she had never seen, if almost frightened her, till he touched her. He ran his hands up her arms till they settled on her shoulders, gently rubbing the sides of her neck with his thumbs.

"Jo, I want you to understand, while I do want that, there is something I want even more…" Woody placed a single finger in the center of her chest, "I want what's in here, I want to know every inch of that heart that has been hidden behind so many walls, hidden from everyone. I want to be the one who storms the castle and takes your heart forever. Do you understand where I'm coming from?"

With tears streaming down her face, Jordan nodded and wrapped her arms around him. She held on to him for dear life. There was so much she wanted to say but just couldn't put it into words. No one had every spoke to her that way, no one had every wanted to know her, really know her. The thought excited her one some level but yet it was also terrifying. In those few minutes she stood there holding him she decided that Woody was worth the risk, again.

"Hey, if you squeeze me any tighter, I'm not going to be able to breath." He whispered in her ear making both of them laugh.

"I just thought maybe you needed some one to hold you a little tighter, that's all" she said smiling, both of them remembering there night in L.A. years ago.

They both leaned back and looked at each other, both with smiles spreading over their faces. "I guess this means you agree with me? I'm worth the wait?"

Jordan laughed out loud, "Time will tell Farm Boy, time will tell. Now, I'm starved, how bout some dinner?"


	24. Rehearsed Emotions

_Thanks for all the great reviews! There will only be one more chapter after this to wrap things up to were coming into the home stretch! Thanks for sticking with me, it's only been what 3 months?_

_Disclaimer: Yet again, there not mine. I could only wish! _

* * *

It had been nearly a week since Jordan had received her letter from her father. She had contacted the lawyer to find out what she needed to do to get the ball rolling. All he needed was a copy of the death certificate and a copy of her driver's license, which she promptly faxed him. So the following day she and Woody went to the storage facility mentioned in her father's letter.

She was overwhelmed at first, that was for sure. It was Woody who finally suggested to take only things that held the most memories, photos and such and leave the rest in storage for a while. She was very receptive to the idea. So the past few days in the evenings she and either Woody or one of her friends from work would accompany her and help her sort thru things.

This particular day Nigel volunteered to help. A passer by would have wondered what in the world was going on in that storage unit due to the excessive laughter coming from inside. Nigel had found "the mother load" when he found Jordan's high school photos, she was definitely a child of the 80's, big hair and all.

"Give me those" she screamed chasing him thru the maze of boxes.

"No way these babies are going on the fridge in the break room!….. Please tell me you had the Camero to go with that hair!"

"Nigel!" she yelled.

"Oh alright love, get your panties out of a bind. I'll make you a deal, these pictures for some…..gossip?"

Jordan narrowed her eyes at him before reluctantly agreeing to the deal. "What kind of gossip do you want to know about?" she asked

"I'm so glad you asked. Are you and your roomie still in separate rooms or do you alternate nights?" he said with a huge grin on his face.

"Oh Nigel…" she said sadly looking at the ground.

Realizing he had hit a rather tender subject he immediately changed his tone to one that was much more understanding. "What's wrong, things not going well. I figured you two would be two peas in a pod by now." He sat down leaning against the wall and patted the spot next to him for her to sit. She took a seat and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"It's not that Nig" she admitted. "We have grown so much in the past few weeks, we are closer now than we have ever been. He still doesn't think he has my heart. He told me he wanted to wait until all the walls are gone before we take the next step. I think it's a wonderful gesture, but the walls have been gone ever since…..ever since I lost Dad. I just don't know how to tell him how I feel, you know?"

Nigel placed his hand over his heart jokingly, "Jordan Cavanaugh speechless, I never thought I'd see the day". They both laughed a little at his comment.

"What do I do Nig?" she asked over at him.

"You love him don't you?" he asked reaching for her hand.

She only nodded at first then she began to ramble a bit, "I've loved him so long I don't even know when I started. My life felt so empty with out him, now that he's back in my life again and we are so close, I can't picture my life with out him in it. I always want him in it….."

"Jordan stop, listen to yourself. Your saying all the right things, just not to the right person."

Jordan couldn't help but smile, he was right but why couldn't she say it to the man she loved so much. "The other night I wanted to say so much but I just couldn't, I don't know what's wrong with me…"

"I have an idea, how about you practice a bit love, pretend I'm your dear Woodrow. Let's just see how it goes, OK?"

She thought for a minute and agreed. So Jordan began to ramble a thousand different kinds of "I love you's". Jordan began to feel worlds better and her confidence build every time she spoke.

There was only one problem, there were a pair of ears just outside door listening to her confessions. Her loving confessions to…Nigel.

Woody was heartbroken. His hands were trembling when he made it back to the car. He slowly opened the small box to see a bright, shinny diamond. The mere sight of it broke his heart even more. Angrily he threw it in the glove box and slammed the door.

Meanwhile back in amongst the mountains of boxes, Nigel cheered Jordan on thru her confessions and helped her decide what to say.

"So Nig, when am supposed to tell him all this?" she asked casually.

"Well that BPD thing is coming up do it then, with what you told me and some hot little number you'll probably wear, he will melt!"

Nigel stood up and reached a hand down to Jordan pulling her to her feet.

"We'd better get going, I've got to get home so I can get ready for tonight" she said happily.

* * *

She had spent an hour and a half getting ready for the night. It was nearly seven and Woody hadn't been home yet, she was really becoming concerned. Jordan finally remembered to check her voicemail, there was a message from him… "Jordan, I've already picked up my tux, I'll just meet you there, ok." That wasn't exactly what she was expecting from him, she chalked it up to him just having a bad day.

Woody must have forgotten that she was still with out wheels, so she didn't have much choice but to call someone from the morgue to pick her up. The someone ended up being Nigel.

Nigel couldn't help but wolf whistle when she came strutting out of building. The two laughed and carried on all the way to the BPD function. He continually teased her about "getting some" tonight, she blushed nearly the same color of her dress, red.

Woody stood at the bar dressed like a model, sipping on his whiskey. He figured that tonight he was definitely going to need the hard stuff after what he heard today and the thought of seeing her this evening. He was doing well to keep his composure, that was till she made her entrance.

"Hot Damn" he mumbled to himself, much like he did the first time he saw her dressed in red. This dress though was completely different, it was long, cut low in the front and even lower in the back, with a split that nearly hit her hip. He was nearly mesmerized by her till he started hearing her words to Nigel, of all people. That's when he saw who had brought her, the lanky brit himself. Not wanting to make a show of himself he quickly tried to disappear thru the crowd till he was caught by Lily and Jeffery.

Jordan searched the crowd as she entered the room; it took her a few moments till she finally spotted him talking to Lily. She reached over and squeezed Nigel hand thanking him for the ride and made her way over to Woody.

As she walked up behind him she slid her arms around his waist and whispered in his ear, "Hey you, I've been looking for you".

Woody had to grit his teeth to keep it together. He just responded with a "Hey". Jordan was certainly puzzled, this was definitely not the reaction she was expecting.

"Wood, what's wrong?" she asked stepping around in front of him to look at his face.

"Nothin', I thought you came with Nigel?" he snapped at her.

She was taken aback by his comment, but it turned to anger quickly. "What are you talking about? I came to be with you, but since I don't exactly have a car anymore I had to get a ride with someone since my 'date' didn't come and pick me up." Her tone had gotten very angry with every word. Woody tried to speak, but she cut him off " I'll tell you what when you pull that stick out of your rear, come find me, OK?". With that she disappeared back thru the crowd to find her friends.

For a while Woody just stood on the sidelines watching her. He watched her dance with Garret, Bug, Nigel and even Matt Seely. Woody couldn't decide what to do, after all they had been thru how could she do this to him, lead him on while she's in love with another man. After several more dances he finally came to the conclusion that he wasn't going to let her go with out a fight. He knew he had loved her for so long that he didn't know if he could ever stop.

Woody slowly made his way over to her, she was deep in conversation with Garret and Bug on some new piece of equipment they were wanting to get at the morgue. So casually as he could he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, he then leaned over and skimmed the side of her neck with his lips till he reached her ear to whisper "Hey".

Jordan nearly jumped out of her skin from the feel of his lips against her body. It was difficult to even respond to him, till finally she found the words, "Hey yourself, I see you found the stick huh?"

Woody rolled his eyes and mumbled 'typical Jordan answer' to himself. Biting his tongue a little he responded, "Yeah, I suppose, just had a really bad day. I shouldn't have taken it out on you". She turned around in his arms to face him before she again responded jokingly, "No you shouldn't!" They both smiled and Woody took the opportunity to steal a small kiss from her since she was in such close proximity.

"Dance with me Jordan" he said with such a sultry tone that she couldn't have resisted if she wanted. She reached for his hand and he lead her out on the dance floor. So they danced the rest of the night, both of them holding on to each other like there was no tomorrow. Both of their minds were swirling with thoughts and feeling that very few words where spoken for the rest of the night.

It wasn't till Jordan noticed it was getting close to midnight, the evening was almost over. It was now or never, she had to tell him how she felt tonight. She had to tell him right here right now, in the middle of this dance floor.

"Woody?" she spoke hesitantly.

"hmmmm" he purred in her ear, nearly making her loose her train of thought.

"Woody, there's some things I need to say and I..I want you to listen and.. and wait until I'm done before you respond…OK?" her voice trembled.

'Here it comes' he thought, but he leaned back to look in her eyes and simply nodded.

Jordan took a deep breath and she leaned up close to his ear to begin "There's so much I want to say Woody, so just bare with me if I start to ramble…" feeling him nod she continued, "Before you came into my life it was so empty, I had waited so long for someone..someone to care for me, someone to love me. Nearly 5 years ago when I walked in to that bank, the minute I saw you I felt something, I felt something I'd waited all my life for. At first I dismissed it, I thought that I was crazy, I had just met you, but the longer we worked together the more the feelings grew. In typical Jordan style I pushed you away because I was afraid of being hurt but no matter how hard I tried the feeling just kept getting stronger. What I'm trying to tell you is that what I said after you were shot was the truth……I loved you then and I'm even more in love with you now…."

Woody had tears in his eyes, what he had heard earlier was her practicing what to say. He was so happy to hear what she was saying but he felt like a total ass. Not wanting to interrupt her, he just pulled her closer to him and continued to listen.

"…I love you so much, I want you in my life, I need you in my life……" she thought for a few seconds and blurted the next line out, " I want you with me forever, I want to marry you?"

His eyes flew open in shock; did she just ask him to marry her? Was he hearing things? He nearly jumped out of their embrace and cupped her face in his hands, "Did you just say what I think you just said?"

With her eyes glistening with tears she nodded and smiled. Woody grabbed her hand and led her off the dance floor. "Can you give me a few minutes? I'll be right back" he spoke so fast she could hardly understand him, but before she could answer he was gone.

So she stood there and waited, trying to be patient as she could. Needless to say his actions puzzled her, for that matter hers puzzled her. What was she thinking? Had she just scared him off?

Meanwhile Woody was running back to his car to retrieve the ring he had thrown in his glove box. Fumbling with his keys he finally got his door open and found the box. Shoving it in to his jacket, he slammed the door and sprinted back inside.

Jordan tried to read his face when she saw him come back thru the door, he had a smile like she had never seen before. All she could do was hope for the best.

"Shall we…" he said reaching for her hand to take her back out on the floor.

They quickly found a spot on the dance floor and he pulled her close. "Jordan, I have to tell you something too. I'm an ol' fashioned kind of guy, so just _bare with me_ ok?…"

Woody dropped to one knee in the middle of the dance floor surrounded by hundreds of other couples. Jordan's hand immediately went to cover her mouth as he reached into his pocket to retrieve the small black velvet box. She knew she wanted to marry him but she wasn't expecting this so soon.

"Jordan Marie, I love you, I've always have, always will. Will you marry me?" he said opening the box and taking out the ring.

She was speechless, her hands were shaking as she wiped away some stray tears from her eyes. When it finally sunk in that the man of her dreams, the man she loved more than life it self had just asked her to marry him, she stuck out her left hand. "Yes" she cried, "Yes, I'll marry you Woody Hoyt, yes, yes, yes, yes!"

He happily slid the ring on her finger and jumped to his feet, pulling her into his arms, spinning her around. The crowd around them erupted into loud cheers, whistles and applause. Woody sat her back on her feet and both of them felt a flush of embarrassment come over them from the attention.

After lots of congrats they made their way over to their 'family' who were waiting for them near the bar. Lily was crying and truth be told Nigel and Bug both were on the verge of tears themselves. It was Garret that spoke to them first, "Woody, I'll let you have her on one condition, I'm the one who has to give her away". Garret looked at Jordan and she began to cry.


End file.
